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2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game live blog

Welcome to the NHL.com All-Star game live-blog. This will keep you updated on all the happenings in the showdown between Team Alfredsson and Team Chara at Scotiabank Place in Kanata.

FINAL

Team Chara, clearly the road team here at Scotiabank Place, walks away with a 12-9 victory in the 2012 Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game. Marian Gaborik gets a hat trick and an assist to lead all scorers with 4 points. Daniel Alfredsson had 2 goals and an assist to lead his team.

Gaborik wins the MVP award.

THIRD PERIOD

2:10: Daniel Alfredsson had his hat trick on his stick, but Tim Thomas isn't about to give it away. He's going for his fourth straight All-Star Game victory. Thomas reached out his stick and pokechecked the puck away from Alfredsson, who was a move away from having an empty net.

3:46: The goalie duel early in the third period continues with Brian Elliott holding the left post and stuffing Tyler Seguin.

4:12: Phil Kessel ends the goalie duel with one incredible shot off the rush. Somehow Kessel came down the right side, cut to the middle, and shot it short side, over Brian Elliott's left shoulder to make it 7-6 Team Chara. After he scored, Keith Yandle gave Kessel a nudge, nearly causing him to lose an edge. Yandle was the guy who tried to hook Kessel in the Fastest Skater competition Saturday night. He is 0-for-2.

5:21: Tavares puts on the breaks behind the net, cuts back to his left, sends puck in front for Milan Michalek. The Senators forward puts the puck past Tim Thomas to make it 7-7.

7:45: Make it 8-7 Team Chara. Evgeni Malkin sets up Jarome Iginla for a one-timer from just in front of the blue paint. Both Malkin and Iginla now have a goal and an assist.

9:40: Twenty seconds after Daniel Alfredsson rings a shot off the post, Claude Giroux gets himself a goal and ties up the game at 8-8. Thomas turned the puck over, leading to Giroux's game-tying goal. The intensity is rising. The guys are competitors and they don't like to lose. The last 10 minutes should be fun.

12:04: Marian Hossa just pulled off something pretty amazing. With Erik Karlsson defending him on the rush, Hossa turned his back to the net and chipped a backhanded shot past Elliott to give Team Chara a 9-8 lead.

12:20: Marian Gaborik now has an assist to go with his hat trick. He feeds a rushing Zdeno Chara in the middle and the Bruins' captain scores his first goal of the game 16 seconds after his countrymen Hossa put his team in the lead. It's not 10-8 Chara.

13:26: As long as you're wearing No. 10 for Team Chara, you're doing just fine. Corey Perry joins in on the action with a backhanded shot that beats Elliott and gives Team Chara an 11-8 lead. Tim Thomas is in line for his fourth straight All-Star Game win.

14:20: Team Alfredsson isn't done yet. The Sedins hook up to cut into the deficit and make it 11-9. Daniel gets the goal from Henrik and Daniel Alfredsson.

15:33: Joffrey Lupul is hearing the boos again, but it's because he scores the goal that gives Team Chara it's three-goal cushion. Lupul connects from below the left circle to make it 12-9 Team Chara. Thomas is looking good in his quest for his fourth straight All-Star Game win.

18:33: Daniel Alfredsson just can't get his hat trick. This time, Tim Thomas sprawls his entire body out on the ice and is able to stop Alfredsson with his feet. That said, I think Alfredsson has already got the MVP locked up.
DRAKE'S SHOW

In between the second and third periods, Canadian rapper Drake took to the center-ice stage (literally) and put on a show for everyone here at Scotiabank Place, including the players.

Several of the All-Stars came out of the dressing room to take in the show. Some of them were rapping along with Drake while others were videotaping it.

In fact, earlier today, Logan Couture said he coudln't wait for the Drake show. He was looking at it as one of the highlights of his weekend.

Couture is a huge Drake fan and even gave him a black San Jose Sharks jersey when he performed at HP Pavilion in San Jose.

SECOND PERIOD

1:23: Marian Gaborik had no choice. He thought he was setting up Marian Hossa in the slot for a shot, but Hossa gave the puck back to Gaborik and from the right side he put it past Jonathan Quick to finish off his hat trick and give Team Chara a 4-3 lead early in the second period.

3:33: The Leafs forward connects to make it 5-3 Team Chara. Phil Kessel delivered a perfect feed to Joffrey Lupul on an odd-man rush and Lupul puts it past Quick. There were some boos. Shocking.

12:40: Zdeno Chara had a slapper from just above the hash marks all lined up, ready to unload. This being an All-Star Game, he pulled it back and then lost the puck. Imagine being Jonathan Quick in that instance, wondering if Chara is going to let up or if he's going to test you with his 108.8 mph slap shot. Frightening.

14:33: Who cares if Ryan Suter and Kimmo Timonen gave him the lane, refusing to sandwich him, Daniel Alfredsson scores a goal in the All-Star Game made for him. He cut down the middle, went between Timonen and Suter, and beat Carey Price to make it 5-5. Alfredsson went to center ice for the ensuing faceoff, but it had to be delayed because the crowd gave him a loud ovation as they announced his name as the goal scorer and showed him on the brand new state-of-the-art scoreboard.

16:04: This one Alfredsson earns. He scores his second goal in less than two minutes to ignite the crowd and give his team a 6-5 lead. The place is going bonkers for Alfredsson. Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin pick up the assists. The passing between the Sedins opened it up for Alfredsson as Price was swimming in his crease. Should we just give the MVP to Alfredsson right now?

18:24: Patrick Kane gets himself on the board with a goal through Quick's five-hole to tie it up at 6-6. Jordan Eberle got the assist.

4:34: After coming around the net and giving Henrik Lundqvist a quick hook, Marian Gaborik came back the other way and stuffed home a return feed from Pavel Datsyuk to give Team Chara a 1-0 lead. Gaborik then pulled off the Artem Anisimov shooting motion, aiming and firing at Lundqvist.

5:38:Evgeni Malkin gives Team Chara a 2-0 lead with a ridiculous shot from nearly below the goal line. Malkin roofed the puck into the far corner from the right side. Malkin's chip shot went over Lundqvist's glove.

10:09: Gaborik beats Lundqvist again, this time from the left side off a cross-slot feed from Marian Hossa, to give Team Chara a 3-0 lead. Gaborik opted not to do the shooting motion this time at Lundqvist, but he did stare him down. These two have been having a Twitter war of words (comedic, of course) all weekend, and it appears Gaborik has a significant upper-hand now with 2 goals in the first period.

10:36: Dan Girardi whips a snap shot from the top of the right circle and Jason Spezza tips it in to get Team Alfredsson on the board. At first it looked like Girardi would get the goal, and that would have been quite an interesting storyline considering he has only 3 on the season and was named an All-Star for all of his gritty skills. He'll take the assist, letting the hometown Spezza take the honors for the goal.

12:51: Jimmy Howard, who has been good in his period, has no answer for the nifty passing from Team Alfredsson. Kris Letang finds Scott Hartnell with a diaganol pass from the left point to the right post. Hartnell shows great patience and finds Henrik Sedin in the slot for an easy tap-in to cut Team Chara's lead to 3-2.

13:45:John Tavares finds the puck just sitting near the right post and he curls it into the net to tie the game at 3-3. Tavares was behind the net when the puck was shot toward Howard by Jason Pominville. We've got a tie game as Team Alfredsson has scored three in a row in a span of 3:13.

16:33:Steven Stamkos is awarded the second penalty shot in All-Star Game history for getting hooked down by Dion Phaneuf. However, Stamkos, who won the Breakaway Challenge Saturday night, couldn't beat Jimmy Howard. He went wide left and tried the spin-o-rama in the slot, but Howard stuck with it and stopped Stamkos' backhanded attempt.

Team Chara was the first squad introduced and Dion Phaneuf was the first player introduced.

The Toronto defenseman heard a hearty round of boos from the Ottawa faithful. So, too, did his teammates Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel.

In fact, Kessel was not surprisingly the one that heard the most boos.

Marian Hossa, who started his career here as a Senator, heard some cheers. Zdeno Chara, the final player introduced for his team, also received a warm welcome. He spent the first five seasons of his career calling this building home.

Naturally, Team Alfredsson went second, and the home crowd couldn't get enough of their favorite Senators.

They introduced all the other players on Team Alfredsson before getting to the four Senators.